Muse always had the ambition and the mindset to become one of the UK’s biggest bands , even if the music wasn’t quite there yet when they started. It took their 2001 second album Origin Of Symmetry to show they could come up with the bombastic rock brilliance to match their grandiose plans but it their 1999 debut Showbiz did a necessary job in laying the groundwork. The album turns 25 next week – it was originally released on 7 September, 1999 – and an interview from the time demonstrates where Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dom Howard’s heads were at. They had their eye on the long game.
“People keep talking about stardom, but surely a lot of bands get that, and then the album comes out and it flops…The thing we’ve got is we’re aware of how it all works,” Bellamy told Rock Sound. “We’re hands on with the creative side, and we’ve learnt there’s so much more. There’s interviews and photos and artwork. In America the video is more important than the album and I sussed that out before we made any deals. I’m not interested in all the lawyers and meetings but you’ve got to have control over the creative side. If all you’re interested in is the music then you’re gonna get a bit shafted.”
